


Attack on Bertl

by Encosy



Category: Kari-gurashi no Arietti | The Secret World of Arrietty, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Because I'm a sucker for cliff hangers, Fluff, G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Innocent Fluff, Macro/Micro, Modern AU, Oneshot, References to The Borrowers, With a tiny twist, and some hints on surprisingly philosophical topics, aot - Freeform, basically a funny idea for a crossover that evolved into a little bit more, borrower au, but mainly fluff and fun, in two chapters, perspective changes, short plot, snk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Encosy/pseuds/Encosy
Summary: "A crunching sound pulled Annie’s attention to the other side of the room. Sunken deep into a large pillow sat Bertolt, the younger human of the house, with his legs stretched out in front of him while leaning against the headboard of his bed. His attention was glued to a book in one hand while absentmindedly nibbling on a cookie with the other.For a whole minute, her gaze glued to the giant form as she scrutinized his every movement. Only as he proved to be fully immersed in the rows of ink, her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she zeroed in on her target right next to him.It was the perfect opportunity."
Relationships: Bertolt Hoover/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo there :)  
> The last weeks had been dreary here in southern Germany, and I spent most evenings cuddled into a blanket on the couch while watching the rain and reading (and later, writing) fictions with a cup of tea in hand. Then this idea for a cute crossover struck me at some 4am :)
> 
> If you know AoT, you'll find a lot of more or less obvious references! I'm actually surprised myself how deep some of them had become, even though it was supposed to be fluff in the first place. But then again, there _is_ a lot of very deep philosophy hidden behind the curtains of an action-loaded, gory set up.  
> (*Peeks over to her other fic before whispering*: and I dare say that Bertolt is one of the most interesting characters of the show. But don't tell the Rogue titan.)
> 
> If the concept of the Borrowers (or Miyazaki's "Arrietty") is new to you: It's based on the eponymous book by Mary Norton from 1953. Borrowers are only about the size of a thumb and live in the houses of humans where they "borrow" (or more precisely, steal) their living supplies, though in amounts that go unnoticed. Despite the daily challenges and ubiquitous threats (like, being eaten by a frog), there's only one rule that determines their lifes: To not ever get seen by a human.
> 
> Bertolt is about 17 years old and Annie something like 12. If you prefer, you can imagine her as chibi as well ^-^
> 
> Also, please excuse me for language issues as I'm no native speaker :'D
> 
> That said, have fun :)

[ ](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/55546694)

Fanart by 十重 on [pixiv.](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/55546694) Not exactly the same as in this fic, but too cute to not show it :) 

* * *

It was silent in town, save a soft yet perpetual drumming on the roofs, and it seemed like darkness had descended early that evening, for the skies were shrouded by heavy, billowing clouds. If someone watched for a while, they would find frequent blurs of cats scurrying about in search for dry havens, but despite that there was nothing but the heavy glitters of raindrops falling through the cones of streetlamps, seemingly appearing out of nowhere before merging with the ground.

Annie sighed a soft, deflated sigh as she peeled her face off the window, smiling meekly to herself as she watched the haze of her breath fade away from the glass. It had taken her a whole hour to come up here to the attic, but she didn’t mind the climb. Watching the outside world was something she would never grow bored of, and even though her parents would never allow her to walk off into the house on her own, it was well worth the risk of getting caught. Her mum was busy knitting anyways, and her dad wouldn’t be back for some more hours. But more than that, she knew it was safe up here. After all, there were only two people living in this house, and she knew for sure that neither of them happened to come up here often. It was too dark, cluttered, and musty for a human.

It was her perfect secret hideaway. Or would be, at least, if it weren’t so damn cold.

Seeing that her fingers had grown all stiff from the glass, Annie decided that it was better to make her way back down again. It was in the middle of her turn, however, that she noticed another movement out in the open, and before she knew it, she found herself pressed against the glass again.

A large, dark silhouette was bounding across the street, leaping through the rain with the head ducked beneath a large hood. In a matter of seconds, he crossed the whole length of the street, splashing water with every step. From up here it all looked so easy. So small. As if the human below was just a normal person and not a terrifying giant in comparison. As if the water was not more than an inconvenience instead of an unrelenting element. that could easily put her life at risk.

As quickly as he had appeared, the human escaped her vision as he reached the door beneath her window. He hadn’t seen her, of course, for she knew that the darkness in the room behind her wouldn’t have given her away. More than anything else, she had mastered the skill of stealth and inconspicuousness.

A tiny shiver ran over her shoulders as she escaped the cold grasp of the glass, yet there was another smile on her face, albeit different from the first one. It was definitely time to retreat down into the warmth, but a little detail had just changed about her destination.

* * *

“Mum, I’m back!” Bertolt called into the living room as he stripped off his soaked jacket and boots, neatly placing them into the corner by the door to not have them drip the floor too much. He then walked over to the kitchen to deposit the goods he had bought from the town shop.

“Mu-um **~**!” he called upstairs, but there was no response either. Only as he finished storing the stuff into the fridge did he see a little note on the kitchen table.

_Meeting up with a friend today. She claims to have found the solution on that lifetime-experiment of hers and needed me to see it. Sorry to leave you alone tonight, but you know I would feel very bad if I didn’t visit her. She had been so very excited about it. Make yourself a tea if you want, there’s a new one in the cupboard. As I know her, I won’t be back until morning._

_Love you my dear_ **~**

Bertolt sighed as he set the note aside, then headed upstairs to take a shower.

* * *

**/ _Half an hour later_ /**

****

It was silent in the room, save the perpetual ticking of a clock that had replaced the soothing sound of rain. The walls were graced by the dim light of a bedside lamp, its warm colour flecked with the shadows of the furniture. If someone watched for a while, they would find that one of the shadows stirred a bit from time to time, but despite that there was no indication of the human’s presence after all.

Even less significant however was the miniscule movement in the flowerpot in the opposite corner of the room.

Cautious as a doe, Annie rose her head to peer over her cover, lifting an ivy leaf in the process. With eyes sharp as a predator's, ger gaze roved over the human’s chamber. There was the worktable to her side, with scribbled notes and paper sheets strewn across like autumn foliage. In its centre rested a large, dark device she knew to be called a "laptop", though she never quite understood its use. To her other side was the large shelf filled with more books than she had ever thought possible. The first time she had seen it, it made her wonder how many people could make use of them, the number of Borrowers not to mention. Admittedly, she had no real idea about how many humans there were. But given their size there couldn’t be as many, right? After all, there was only so much wood and rocks and other weird material (like glass, her parents had never once found glass outside) they needed to build their ingenious stuff, and not to mention the food! Seeing the wall of books, she was sure they would suffice for the entire human race.

A crunching sound yanked Annie’s attention to the other side of the room. Sunken deep into a large pillow sat Bertolt, the younger human of the house, with his legs stretched out in front of him while leaning against the headboard of his bed. His attention was glued to a book in one hand while he absentmindedly nibbled on a cookie with the other. He was sporting comfortable-looking pants and a pine-green shirt. The socks were awful, though. Even with her young age she had enough of a stylistic sense to never combine yellow stripes with blue. In an odd way, it prompted her to assess his appearance not so much threatening as … ridiculous.

For a whole minute, she scrutinized his every movement. As he remained fully immersed in the rows of ink, her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she zeroed in on her target right next to him.

It was the perfect opportunity.

In the next minutes, Annie used the ivy’s tendrils to reach the top of the large bookshelf. It was high enough for her to reach the ceiling if she jumped, but more than that it was a convenient and safe way to reach the long dresser edging to the human’s bed - well-hidden from any curious eyes. Still, she couldn’t suppress a sense of unease that lingered in her stomach every time she walked across it, not necessarily because of the dust and spiderwebs, but rather for a very unpleasant encounter she had once had here.

Upon reaching the other side, Annie rappelled down with her self-made grappling hook – a large roll of (fresh!) dental floss attached to an old fishing hook. Unfortunately, her calculations proved wrong as she ran out of rope about three inches above the dresser. That might not sound like much, but given her size of only two inches, it was still quite a jump. Checking on the human again, she pulled off her shoes to avoid any clacking noise. She would need to find another way to get back to her hidden entryway, but this was certainly worth it, if not more than worth it. Graceful as an antelope, she then pushed herself off the wooden shelf. The noise of her impact was probably not more than a dropping pin, yet she immediately darted behind a picture frame just to be on the safe side. Even though it had sounded quite clear to her, she was always a bit surprised, if not dismayed to see just how deaf and blind humans could be. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for her parent’s incessant warnings, she wouldn’t consider them a threat at all. She had observed them many times already, and all they did was to stare at whatever they were holding in that moment, sometimes a book, but more often a small and flat glowing device. They looked kind of stupid when they did so, just staring for hours with their necks crooked in an unhealthily hunched position. And even if they did move in their environment, they would never once look down to the ground, or up to the shelves. It was as if anything above or below their eye-level was non-existent to them.

Anyways, it was a tad different with this guy here, so she had to be careful all the same. After a minute of only hearing the nibbling of the cookie, she peeked out of her hiding place to reassure herself of the human's location. The fragrant aroma of camomile permeated the air, along with something more exotic. Perhaps mint? Or lavender? She couldn’t tell what it was, nor could she find its source, but it surely smelled good.

With eyes firmly trained on the now towering figure, she flitted over the wooden board, silent as a shadow and fleet as the wind. Only as she reached the side of the bed did she put on her shoes again, for she needed them to climb the headboard. It was risky, of course. But she had faith in her climbing skills that allowed her to move silently. She couldn’t even recall a time of her life that she hadn’t been able to overcome every obstacle – much to her parent’s chagrin. And even if she slipped once or twice, she was certain that the human wouldn’t even notice.

After all, the safest place was in the eye of peril, she recalled. Or something similar at least.

Upon reaching the top, she prudently pulled herself up to peek over the edge. The human was still leaning against the bed board as he flipped another page. She was close enough to hear his breath by now – an even, calm breath of repose that was surprisingly quiet for a creature of his size. For a moment, she took advantage of her hidden position and inspected the details of the bean – eh, _being_ , that is. The short, dark hair and a slightly hooked nose. Like the rest of him, his long face gave him the impression of being stretched out.

Most remarkable though was his awful sense for socks.

Deeming herself safe in the shadow of the giant, she cautiously walked the board line, supporting herself against the wall to make sure there was no way of falling down the other side. A rush of excitement poured through her veins as she stood right behind the unsuspecting human, feeling extraordinarily powerful for once. For several minutes, she simply stood there and grinned into herself, yet she couldn’t suppress to flinch as he stirred at some point, if only to stretch his back and shoulders. He then turned his head to reach for something on the bedside table before returning to his book, still unsuspecting.

His movement spiked her adrenaline, knowing that there was no place to hide up here. It was time to gather her bearings and execute her plan before she lost her chance.

For a moment, her eyes glanced to the little pile of cookies on the bedside table but then swivelled back to the human again. Another smirk then split her face as her heart spiked in exhilarated anticipation.

This would be so much fun.


	2. Chapter 2

“ATTAAAAAACK!” Annie yelled from the bottom of her lungs, her arms thrown up high in the air as she leaped forward. Upon hitting the giant’s nape, his head jolted forward with a startled yelp.

“WHAT THE..?!” His voice boomed in her ears as he jerked around, but to no avail. Annie had already found purchase in the short hair to avoid getting thrown off. Her grin reached an almost evil level now. There was no chance in him ever seeing his mysterious attacker back ther-

Darkness enclosed her far too soon for her liking, and she tensed instinctively. For a moment she could sense large digits scrutinize her outlines before the thumb swept across her shins. In a firm clasp, she found herself lifted by her feet, pulled up and off his hair that she vainly tried to cling to. There was a disorienting whirl of suspense and blurry movements before she came to a sudden halt mid-air. Squirming and jerking, she tried to free herself of her binding, not even caring about the possible fall that would await her if she succeeded. However, even though the grip on her ankles wasn’t strong enough to truly hurt, it also allowed no space for any more movements. So no, there was no chance of escape here. Even so, she wouldn’t stop pulling at her restraints, if only to assure him of her unbent will.

Seeing that her protest didn’t achieve its intended effect, Annie finally stilled to face the human that had remained unmoved and silent until now. Her world was left upended, yet it didn’t change much about her vision that was blotted out by a giant face. She didn’t lack that his lips were pressed into a thin line while the skin between his brows was furrowed deeper than she’d ever seen on him. If anything, it showed that he was well and truly pissed.

Shooting a glance upwards – or downwards for that sake -, she found the book placed next to him while the other hand was holding on to a cup of tea. Only that it was half-empty now with visible drops spread across his wrist as well as the pants below.

_Oh…_

She barely contained a yelp as she was jerked up to be perfectly on eye-level with the giant.

“uh… hi.” She sported a crooked smile, though it didn’t quite reach her face. More moments of silence ensued as she could practically feel his gaze running down and up her form, his expression still as stone. If he remained silent on purpose she couldn’t tell, but it surely felt like an eternity until he finally opened his mouth to speak.

…

“Jerk.”

…

At first, it seemed like he would leave it at that, before adding

“Care to explain what that was all about?”

Suddenly reminded of her initial idea, she was quick to snap back into her original role. Crossing her arms in front of her waist, she feigned nonchalance with the best confident expression she could muster. Despite the fact that her hair was standing upwards, it contained impressive credibility.

“I’m the chosen warrior to save my people from the tyranny of titans!”

“The tyranny?” He creased a brow at this, but did not comment further. “And you were sent to take me down now, oh brave warrior of the Borrower tribe?”

“Exactly.”

His face split into a crafty smile as she was drawn closer in challenging. With a gentle yet pronounced swing, he made her current situation all the more glaring.

“Is that so?”

Despite the otherwise terrifying display, her tiny frown didn’t crack any bit. Arms akimbo, she retorted with a voice cold as ice.

“If I had weapons with me, you’d be not more than a steaming pile of flesh by now.”

Satisfyingly enough, his previous smirk visibly faltered, and he jerked back as if suddenly afraid by the tiny girl. For a moment, there was real shock laden in his green-brown eyes as he simply stared at her incredulously, before breaking into a booming laughter.

“Where did you come up with this bullshit?”

She opened her mouth to retort in a snide comment but was cut off as she found herself again in darkness. There was the muffled sound of movement, along with more giant chuckles before she was released on a hard ground with soft surface. It didn’t take her long to overcome the previous wooziness to see that she had been placed on top of the human’s scalp.

Bertolt himself had reclined deeper into the pillow, now putting aside the cup of tea to dab dry his hand and wrist, and Annie crawled a bit further to the front to look down. Just watching the way his arm practically floated through the air was enough to amaze her. It was hard to believe just how huge this guy was! He didn’t even need to turn his chest to reach the nightstand while she would need multiple minutes to get there, not to mention the time it would require to only reach his feet!

She let herself recline deeper into the hair that was thick and soft at the same time. To her surprise, she noticed that it smelled pretty good. Was that apple? But the scent was somewhat sweeter. Probably a new soap?

“You ok up there?”

She startled imperceptibly at the sudden voice before regaining her composure.

“Uh, yeah. It’s fine.” She said with an almost bored voice. In truth, she could barely contain excitement of being up here. She wondered if he knew about her penchant for this place to stay. But then again, who wouldn’t? The warmth radiating up from beneath seemed to seep through her skin, and the fascinatingly fluffy hair conveyed a degree of comfort that rivalled her own bed sheets. Best of all however was the assurance of having the supreme view over everything. From up there, she could see everything with the eyes of the tallest being she’d ever seen. Even better, she could see the world from a _higher_ perspective than him! There was no way someone would not love this.

“Does your dad know of you sneaking off?” Bertolt asked to fill the silence. Even though she couldn’t see him now, there was a definite smile in his voice.

“oh, uhhm… well… you know…”

He chuckled again, yet softer this time. As he reached for the cup again, and she couldn’t help but crane her neck as a warm whiff of sweet, tantalizing herbs lofted to her nose.

“I see. So he’s not at home?”

“Nah. He went off to fetch some materials. There’s a leak somewhere in the wall where water keeps pushing in on rainy days.”

“Oh..” He raised his chin insignificantly, well-trained on not moving too much yet clearly expressing his concern.

“You know, you could simply ask if you need something. I wouldn’t mind to help, really. If it saves you the troub-”

“I know, I know.” She waved him off before noticing that he couldn’t actually see it. It was almost a miracle that her little voice was enough to cut him off.

“I appreciate your help. It’s just that he… I…”

“You haven’t told him about me yet, am I right?”

…

“nope.”

He heaved a deep and prolonged sigh, but it ended in a smile nonetheless.

“I hope one day I can prove myself trustworthy. I feel bad knowing about the lots of trouble you’re dealing with if it could be so much easier.”

“Perhaps… some day.” She said to not sound too disenchanting. In truth, she knew that this day would never come. Her mum was far too scared to even step out of their house and her dad, even though he wasn’t an overly strict person by any means, was unrelenting when it came to the topic of dangerous humans.

“Well, seeing that you do trust me gives me hope.”

Annie flinched at a sudden touch on her back. She hadn’t seen his hand approaching from the side.

“S-sorry. D-Didn’t mean to…” He was quick to pull back, resting his hand on the lap where he hoped it to be clearly visible for her.

“Meh. It’s fine.” She reassumed her state of repose and perched her chin onto one wrist, drawing circles around some hairs with the other.

“Why me though?” He asked after a prolonged pause.

“Huh?”

“You said you wanted to fight the tyranny of titans. But why am _I_ the villain in this story? I haven’t done you any wrong, have I?”

“Isn’t that obvious? You are the tallest of all giants. It’s only logical that you are their leader.”

He chuckled at that. “I’m certainly not the tallest human existing.”

“Well, you’re the tallest human I know.”

“Which makes… two.”

“I _did_ see other humans outside as well!”

“Oh, did you? Looks like there’s no room for me to argue then. Still, it’s quite superficial to judge by outer appearances, don’t you think? It’s not like I could change anything about the circumstances I was born into.”

“Tell me about it.”

He grinned “Guess you have a point.”

Talking about outer appearances, Annie couldn’t help but look over to his feet. She smirked to herself before taking a closer look at the book, her eyes widening as she noticed the bookmark. It was a white sheet of paper with a marigold on top that had been neatly pressed and sealed in transparent sheets. It was the flower she had gifted him some weeks ago.

Even though he couldn’t see her faint blush, she felt the urge to distract from the topic.

“Uhh... what’s that book you were reading?”

“Oh, this one?” He picked it up to show her the cover.

“It’s our current lecture at school. Called ‘Heart of Darkness’.”

“Sounds like a thriller.” Her voice perked up in excitement

“Actually…” he added a pronounced pause “it’s more of a novel. It tells the story of the sea man Marlow and his voyage up the Congo river. But in its core, the author strongly criticizes the notion of colonialism.”

“Collo- what?

“Colonialism.” He repeated, his voice darkening a bit. For a moment, he deliberated on how to best address the subject.

“It’s when a nation takes control over another, mostly overwhelming them by technological supremacy or brutal force."

His shoulders visibly slouched before adding

"Sadly enough, the inferior party is often treated under highly inhuman conditions.”

Pensive silence blanketed the room as Annie took up the information. She had never heard of humans fighting another, let alone treat their own kind in such abhorrent ways.

“Why… would they do that?”

Bertolt sighed wearily

“I wish I could tell you. But in the most cases, it was mainly for resources.”

“That sounds… horrible.”

“It was.” He lifted his chin again “And still is… I guess the only good thing is that we are past the darkest times. The world is not perfect by any means, not even peaceful. But compared to former ages, there have been many changes for the better.”

Annie didn’t respond to that, and he felt bad for it all of a sudden. He hadn’t meant to have her sad by bringing up such a topic. But on the other side, he was always surprised to see how mature she could be despite her otherwise childish attitudes.

“Hey, don’t dwell about it too much.” He lifted a hand again, this time careful enough to not startle her. “It’s important to learn from the past, but our actions should be directed toward the future, alright?” He wiggled one digit against her waist, successfully earning a stifled laughter from her. Surprisingly enough, she threw herself over it the next second. Using his thumb for additional support, he carefully moved his little friend to the front to meet her with a warm smile.

“Besides, it’s not like a Borrower cares much about human issues, right?”

Annie only smiled her sly smile again.

“Now that you speak of it. What I _would_ care about is one of that cookies over there.”


End file.
